Carl Switzer - Personal Life

Personal Life

In early 1954, Switzer was set up on a blind date with Diantha (Dian) Collingwood, the heiress of grain elevator empire Collingwood Grain. After the death of her father, Collingwood, her mother, and sister, moved to California from Hutchinson because her sister wanted to become an actress. Switzer and Collingwood were married in Las Vegas three months later. In 1956, with money running dry and Dian pregnant, her mother offered her and Switzer a farm north of Pretty Prairie, west of Wichita. A son was born early that year, and the couple was divorced later in 1956. In 2002, it was revealed that Switzer's son's name is Lance, per his cousin's statement on ancestry.com. In 1987, former Our Gang co-star Spanky McFarland recalled a meeting with Switzer concerning the farm:

The last time I saw Carl was 1957. It was a tough time for me—and him. I was starting a tour of theme parks and county fairs in the Midwest. Carl had married this girl whose father owned a pretty good size farm near Wichita. When I came through town, he heard about it and called. He told me he was helping to run the farm, but he finally had to put a radio on the tractor while he was out there plowing. Knowing Carl, I knew that wasn't going to last. He may have come from Paris, Illinois, but he wasn't a farmer! We hadn't seen each other since we left the gang. So we had lunch; we talked—about all the things you'd expect. And then I never saw him again. He looked pretty much the same. He was just Carl Switzer—kind of cocky, a little antsy—and I thought to myself he hadn't changed that much. He still talked big. He just grew up. — George McFarland

In addition to acting, Switzer bred and trained hunting dogs and guided hunting expeditions. Among his more notable clients were Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (Switzer's son's godparents), James Stewart and Henry Fonda.

In January of 1958, Switzer was getting into his car in front of a bar in Studio City when a bullet smashed through the window and struck him in the upper right arm. The suspect was never identified. In December of that year, he was arrested in Sequoia National Forest for cutting down 15 pine trees. He was sentenced to a year's probation and ordered to pay a $225 fine.